LAIALEX - DELIRIA

One more name joins the team of independent artists in Brazil. LAIALEX, from São Paulo, admittedly queer, chose June, the month of LGBTQIA+ pride to officially launch himself in the national music market. This is done with DELIRIA, his debut EP.

A blur of bright colors is seen through dry ice. Just like in Alice In Wonderland, these colors of nascent intensity embody a psychedelic sense that intoxicates the listener through Marcel Enderle's electric piano. Then the sequential back and forth of hallucinogenic notes receives an almost shrill beat from the drums, which, played by Pedro Lauletta, helps to build a 70's dance hall ambience with its new wave rhythmic base. When Rodrigo Passos invades the scene promoting a full-bodied romp from the bass and a soft guitar full of wah wahs, a surprisingly low voice whose timbre brings a mixture of Djavan and Jorge Vercillo takes the melodic lead. It is LAIALEX amplifying the dancing sensoriality that glitters from the track's sonic conjuncture. With ecstatic swing and a shy joy coming from the saxophone in the rhythmic aisle, Flecha is almost like an allusion to Eros, the God of passion in Greek mythology. On the other hand, just as Marcelo D2 was searching for the perfect beat in his iconic single and homonymous verse, in Flecha, LAIALEX finds himself searching for the perfect passion.

The electric piano brings notes of an acidity and a tempo that remind the listener of the melodic base of Let's Dance, David Bowie's single. Aside from this quick assimilation, the song has a slower tempo than the previous one and, already in the first verse, presents something new. In the form of a duet, LAIALEX is joined by Tôrta and her soft, slightly velvety timbre and unreasonable sensuality. Still under the new wave base, the music follows the premise of building a ballad and dance environment that invites the spectator to move his body in his own way. This is how Gelo presents itself rhythmically while, in the lyrical context, it follows the concept of passion, but in a new light. Here she dialogues, in a timidly amusing way, about how initial contempt can be a trigger for passion, excitement and desire. No wonder that the set of verses that best defines her is: "aquele gelo que você me deu botei num drink aqui só meu. Quem derrete primeiro, você ou eu?".

The velvet of the fender rhodes builds a scenery that is like a setting sun behind the hills on the horizon. When night then sets in, that aura of apparent comfort, evidences an illusory sense of coziness. After all, LAIALEX's entrance brings a latent drama in the way he narrates the first verses of the song that is still under construction. With an impending tension and an almost uncomfortable suspense, the melody brings interesting mixtures between rap and R&B while being brushed by icy and almost lifeless tones. Adding to the dramatic sense that exudes from it is Eva Treva, who imputes an open, nasal vocal that sounds like an echo aimed at highlighting the verses sung by LAIALEX. It doesn't take much to notice that Vinho is a song of autobiographical lyricism in a clear tone of protest that exposes an anguish visibly dammed up for a long time. It is a song that deals with the way the LGBTQIA+ community is treated, neglected, and denied in a conservative, intolerant, and blindingly authoritarian society. It is the cry that seeks equal rights in a place that does not accept social heterogeneity. It is the crying, it is the helplessness, it is the pain, it is the self-knowledge. But it is also about strength, perseverance, and self-control. Vinho is the biographical account of many and a protesting motivation that is heard and bought by few.

The noise is growing. Beside it, an icy, numbing sequence of intoxicating notes explodes into a hallucinatory ambience that, in the background, is adorned by a high-pitched, digital voice repeating the questioning "quem é você?" Entangled in a mixed melody between chiptune ingredients, electronic forró and pisadinha, Duelo sounds like the continuation of Vinho. Unlike the previous one, however, this track is not adorned in an almost bloodthirsty dramatization, but talks about self-knowledge, the perception of essence, the assumption of true identity and independence from the social values and morals of a conservative community. In this process, LAIALEX and Clara are divided between mirror versions and between open and nasal vocals with others that are more softened.

The velvet dress dances in time with the evening breeze. The walk is slow, but the gaze is penetrating and confident. Like an omnipresent narrator, LAIALEX begins to introduce the lyrical content among hypnotic echoes that wander freely through the environment. Amidst a sleepy new wave and an intoxicating torpor, the melody drifts quietly along in a way that wins the listener over from its deafening calm. However, this amorphous sonorous taming soon dissipates and flows into a more danceable outfit based on soft rock and ruled by a bass with strong and full-bodied lines that, executed by Titouan Lageat, gives a sensual air to the title track. It's curious to notice that, despite the melody, the lyricism is breathtakingly fiery. After all, it deals with pleasure, surrender, and the act, and is immersed in metaphors about situations experienced during the relationship. No wonder the lyricist is in a state of ecstatic trance.

The guitar is as mellow as the first rays of the sun on a summer dawn. The light takes on more and more body as the instrument increases its bursts, and the drums come in accompanying it with a soft rhythm that is in the process of awakening. With a Nando Reis style pop rock that flirts with the narrative structure of All Star, Jaqueta Jeans is a song that talks about the last meeting, sensory memories and delirious thoughts of 'what if...'. A good way, with an infectious rhythm, lyrics that give wings to the imagetic scenographic construction, and the participation of Camila Chang doing the backing vocal in the final verses, to close DELIRIA. After all, Jaqueta Jeans proves to be an important radio song that, together with Vinho's protesting outburst, shapes the EP's team of singles.

Unlike what is seen in LGBT sound arts, there are surprises of timbres, rhythms, and lyrical plots. However, like all LGBT work, there is protest, there is dissatisfaction, there are biographical accounts, and there is an intense search for belonging and social acceptance. Undeniably, the main dish that DELIRIA offers the listener is self-confidence.

With a rhythmic conjuncture that goes from new wave, electronic forró, pisadinha, R&B and pop rock, the EP adds to works such as Criatura, Travesti Biológica, Titan, Instinto, Sem Ar, Aqui e Agora and AGROPOC in the defense for the LGBTQIA+ community. In the defense for equality, respect, acceptance and, mainly, freedom of expression.

It is true that even among songs like the title track, there is no melodic or even lyrical garb blatantly explicit in their real intentions, but they are metaphorically amenable to understanding. In any case, it is not by the sensual or exactly sexual side that LAIALEX relies on to achieve its goal of at least being heard.

It presents mature languages that respect both spectrums, whether LGBTQIA+ or not. It presents critical and painful languages that seek to bring the listener closer and communicate that if there is someone going through the same situation, that person is not unique and the pain is not one-sided. It has been or is felt by a myriad of other individuals who are still trapped in a reality of slavery to conservative social morals. That is why tracks like Vinho and Duelo are important hymns of unity in the search for a place in the sun.

Produced and mixed by Giacomini, DELIRIA is an EP that exudes drama, torpor, sensuality, and restlessness. It is an EP of varied rhythmic languages that combine in the purpose of representing a marginalized community. It is an EP of balanced and easily digestible melodies.

Closing the analytical juncture of the EP comes the cover art. Signed by Renan Riso, it brings a wide variety of readings. First, the division of the landscape between dark blue and bright red tones already communicates something like immersion in somber environments. The castle towers at the bottom of the upper part and the man lying down and chained in the lower central part, on the other hand, induce the reading of the Holy Inquisition. And the piercing eyes in the upper central part reproduce judgment and intolerance. In this aspect, it is interesting to note the similarity with the cover art of Detroit Stories, Alice Cooper's album.

Released on 06/29/2022 in an independent way, DELIRIA is a biographical, protesting, disturbing, and melodically plural EP. It is a work that, above all, defends and represents the LGBTQIA+ community in the search for an unmarginalized and judgment-free coexistence. It is a cry of enough is enough.